“Ontario’s cider makers struggle with restrictive regulationChris Haworth is a top cider maker in the country – a status that was solidified earlier this year, when his company West Avenue Cider won four gold medals and two best-in-class awards at the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition in Michigan, the world’s largest cider competition.

But there was no time to celebrate. The following day, Haworth was back at work on his year-old 75-acre farm outside of Hamilton, mucking out hundreds of holes to plant an apple orchard. And that work is just part of why it’s so difficult to produce Canada’s oldest alcoholic beverage.

The real problem is the government: When it comes to regulations, cider is the forgotten stepchild of booze…”

“Chris Hayworth brings the same experimental flair he employs in the kitchen to his cider making.

"A passion for the culinary arts" encouraged the Manchester native to give making cider a try. "It's like, once you learn how to cook, how do you take that passion to the next level?"

The former executive chef at Spencer's at the Waterfront in Burlington started messing about with cider recipes in 2008. He and wife Amy Robson had been to one of Ontario's only cider companies at the time, Waupoos in Prince Edward County, and couldn't understand why more people weren't making the drink…”

“Planting an apple seed will produce a more random result than pulling the handle on a Vegas slot machine. Apples grown from seeds are “extreme heterozygotes,” often only distantly related to their parent DNA.

It was these zany apples, born from seeds brought over from England and France by early settlers, which made up Canada’s first hard ciders. Because of the ease of harvesting the ingredients, cider was the tipple of choice for English and French settlers. It was a farmhouse drink: besides apples settlers would chuck in raisins, molasses, and other miscellaneous sugar to up the booze factor, often maturing it in a spare rum or port barrel…”

“My rough, and somewhat hazy, count of the ciders I've tried this week is approximately 25. We are at the halfway point for the first (and hopefully annual) Ontario Cider Week, and there has never been a better time for cider in Toronto.

I can dimly remember when we only had two or three hard ciders at the LCBO. All of them were sickly sweet and at least one came in trashy 2 L plastic bottles. Obviously, we have come a long way to get to the point where several local cideries are making dozens of compelling takes on alcoholic apple juice.

West Avenue Cider is one of the leaders in the current wave of newcomers. The company was started by husband-and-wife team Chris Haworth and Amy Robson after Haworth decided he needed a change from his career as a chef. His resume ranges from London's Quo Vadis to Burlington's Spencer's at the Waterfront…”

“As I sit in my armchair sipping Archibald Orchards sparkling hard cider from a tall slender flute, I’m not surprised to read that hard cider is the fastest growing alcoholic beverage in Ontario.

It was the first alcoholic beverage enjoyed in North America – the pilgrims fermented their apples – and since then, the drink has gone in and out of fashion. During prohibition, hundreds of acres of apple cider orchards in Ontario were ripped out, ending a thriving industry. Years later when prohibition was repealed, cider was the last alcoholic beverage considered for production because it takes an apple tree five years to produce apples…”

“One was black as the night with a foamy crown for good measure. Another was beet red. Some had fizz while others were amber-gold and sparkled under the bar lighting. Many glowed in various shades of red while others were perfectly golden.

They came in all colours and styles on this night at WVRST, a popular King St. sausage and beer hall. WVRST turned over all its beer taps on the Wednesday night of a week-long celebration of all things cider to the newest beverage craze that is getting the full attention of drinks lovers: Ontario craft cider. One thing was made very clear on this night: This is NOT your grandma’s apple cider…”

“Look out, Toronto! Ontario’s craft cideries are about to take over the downtown core for six days and nights of discovery and revelry that just might open up some eyes and palates to this growing beverage trend that’s exploded on the drinks scene in the last couple of years.

The relatively new Ontario Craft Cider Association is holding the inaugural Cider Week 2014 beginning June 2 at various venues in Toronto all culminating on Saturday June 7 with a “Tap takeover” at barVolo with all 32 taps pouring a diverse range of Ontario ciders over two sessions…”

“Look out, Toronto! Ontario’s craft cideries are about to take over the downtown core for six days and nights of discovery and revelry that just might open up some eyes and palates to this growing beverage trend that’s exploded on the drinks scene in the last couple of years.

The relatively new Ontario Craft Cider Association is holding the inaugural Cider Week 2014 beginning June 2 at various venues in Toronto all culminating on Saturday June 7 with a “Tap takeover” at barVolo with all 32 taps pouring a diverse range of Ontario ciders over two sessions…”

“Cider in Ontario has historically been something of an overlooked category when it comes to adult beverages, which is strange given that it was likely one of the first alcoholic beverages consumed in North America--and also strange given that Ontario's climate makes for perfect apples for making damn tasty ciders.

Luckily, there are some great cideries popping up in the province as of late, they've been widely embraced by the craft beer community (among others), and, since 2012, they've been associated under the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs as the Ontario Craft Cider Association (OCCA).

So it's high time the great ciders of Ontario got some of the praise they deserve. Enter Ontario Craft Cider Week…”

TORONTO'S WEST AVENUE CIDER YIELDS MULTIPLE MEDALS AT INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONToronto, April 1, 2014

“…West Avenue yielded one gold, three silvers and a bronze at the Great Lakes International Cider & Perry Competition (GLINTCAP) recently held in Michigan. The small-batch hard cider producer owes the winnings to innovative recipes coupled with careful fermentation and the region’s quality fruit…”

“On Wednesday, I was honoured to be invited to judge the first annual Hard Cider Competition at the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention. I found myself pleasantly surprised by the quality and variety of the entrants … Ultimately, the winner of the first annual Hard Cider Competition was West Avenue Cider, owned by Chris Haworth. Haworth is a force to be reckoned with, having trained as a chef under Marco Pierre White at Quo Vadis in London.”

“Ontario cider has for a long time been something like a best kept secret among those among us who, for whatever reason, can't drink beer. Lately however, word seems to be getting out that the province's cold climate helps grow highly-acidic apples perfectly-suited to cider and so there's been something of a mini-boom in local craft cider.”

“Over the past couple years, Toronto's craft beer movement has expanded the palates and thirst for interesting brew. Now, it's paving the way for a new fizzy beverage: craft cider.

One of Ontario's newest spirit producers specialising in Cider is West Avenue Cider, owned and operated by Chef Chris Haworth, who worked for some of London's best restaurants (including Marco Pierre White at Quo Vadis) before coming to Canada in 2005. Haworth decided to leave the restaurant industry behind last year to open West Avenue Cider…”

“…The clear highlight of the day for me was the West Avenue Cider Company, run by Husband-and-wife team Chris Haworth and Amy Robson. The Cidery is only in their first year, but has been making a big splash with one-off ciders, this event in particular featuring Barrett Fuller’s Secret Bourbon-Barrel Aged Cider, with a rich bourbon aroma and lovely vanilla taste notes and the Smash Me Up Butternut Cask-Conditioned Pumpkin Cider, which tasted like a homemade mulled cider I would expect from a beloved Somerset family member with an age-old secret recipe…”

“Canadians grow apples from coast to coast, and although we’ve long been known for our apple pies, our latest claim to fame is artisan apple cider…Further east, the new Ontario Craft Cider Association represents makers including Toronto’s West Avenue Cider (created by former Spencer’s chef Chris Haworth and who ages the cider in bourbon barrels)…”

BIG CITY CHEF GOES COUNTRY FOR CRAFT CIDERGirl Gone Craft, October 22, 2013

“It may be premature for a beer blog in its infancy to swap one muse for another. But there’s a new cider on the otherwise beer-soaked bar and restaurant circuit in Toronto, and it’s turning heads in the craft beer community…”

“Oh, the signs were there all along: The extravagant apple cider-themed dinners at his tony restaurant on the waterfront in Burlington, Ontario. The British heritage and the fact that he was raised on the myriad ciders offered in the pubs of London. And his name on Twitter, of course: @ciderseeker. It would appear that it was Chris Haworth’s destiny…”